After the Senate Appropriations Committee, led by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), approved the Foreign Operations Appropriations (FY2003) bill including $50 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in July, the House Appropriations Committee last week followed suit, earmarking $25 million for UNFPA. The Senate action came shortly after the Bush administration cut $34 million appropriated by Congress for the UNFPA. Bush made this decision despite a report from the administration’s own fact-finding team that found no evidence that the UN organization “knowingly supported or participated in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization in China.”
Introduced by Representative Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), the House bill (HR 5410) allocates $25 million for UNFPA while stipulating that no assistance be given to China’s State Family Planning Commission (SFPC)Ñthe agency accused by the anti-abortion Population Research Institute of coercive practices.
The Senate version (S 2779) earmarks $50 million for UNFPA and similarly prohibits funding to any organizations directly participating in coercive family planning strategies.
The House and Senate bills have been placed on the Union and Legislative Calendars, respectively.
LEARN MORE Read related stories from the Feminist Daily News Wire
TAKE ACTION Urge Bush to Release UNFPA Funds
